Drought & irrigation
When I was five-year old growing up in a farming community just south of Buffalo, New York, our well dried up as a result of localized drought. It was the early 1950s and I was pretty happy—I was limited to just one bath per week. We hauled water in five-gallon cans to flush the toilet and to wash dishes.
Fifty years later, Frederick County, Maryland, home to Waverly Farm, is in a four-year drought that is thought to exceed the dust bowl years of the 1930s, which is considered the worst drought of the last 100 years. The Monocacy and Potomac Rivers are standing still—algae-filled pools of stagnant water are everywhere.
So I am thinking about those days of once-a-week baths. Our wells at Waverly have not gone dry and I can still take a shower every day. Yet I know the vast aquifer beneath us decreases every day. When Paula and I purchased the site, we knew water would be crucial to our success and set out to build a state-of-the-art drip irrigation system. We completed the last leg of the $500,000, 200-acre system this summer. Little did we know in 1996 that the decision to invest aggressively in a low volume irrigation system would be our salvation in 2002. We have not had “normal” rainfall since 1998.
Many industries rely on water, but few are more dependent on it than all phases of the green industry.
Adaptation is the key to success. Some contractors I talk to see this period of drought as a circumstance of doom and gloom. Others see this it as a boom time opportunity to increase sales by selling a drip irrigation installation with every plant they install. Some are also using water-absorbing gels. Some have caved in and are only selling hardscapes with the expectation that they will sell the plants later. Others are selling the full package and cannot keep up with their work load. Yes, interest has declined as prospective customers feel they have no option but to defer their landscape dreams. Good marketing can overcome this.
Talk is cheap, but if I owned a garden center, the first thing my customers would see is an oversized drip irrigation display. I would aggressively promote it with educational signage to tell how drip irrigation is the long-term, money saving, plant promoting, single best landscape investment for every old and new landscape. Drip consumes about 90% less water compared to overhead irrigation and literally guarantees the success of the planted material.
Landscape contractors should discuss irrigation before the sales call is more than one minute old. Face the problem head on and convert the negative concern into a beautiful, long-lasting landscape.
There could not be a better time to capitalize on an issue that serves the long-term best interest of your business and customers.
Jerry, summer 2002